Skip to main content

Why Do Doctors Need Medical Malpractice Insurance?



Insurance of any kind is a fund that is paid regularly to offset any damage (claimed or proven) that others claim against you. For instance, you have car insurance in case someone is injured or if you recklessly hit another car. Medical malpractice insurance is insurance doctors pay in case someone is injured or sues them for something that happens during the operation of their business.

The Cost of Medical Malpractice Insurance

Like everything else, insurance costs rise based on the several factors, including inflation. However, due to the increased number of claims over the past several decades, healthcare professionals have found the prices of medical malpractice insurance to be prohibitive, and in many instances, the increase in insurance rates is passed on to patients. In some cases, the prices are so high that doctors have left their practices; other, more optimistic healers are limiting their practices to the safest and lowest-rated insurance risks.

The Need for Medical Malpractice Insurance

Many patients feel they have been wronged by the medical profession in some way and seek the counsel of medical malpractice lawyers and attorneys. Some attorneys are just really good at behaving like a nuisance-they file so many claims that doctors find it easier to settle the claims out of court, rather than risk being put on trial. Many times, wronged patients are willing to settle claims for $50,000 or $150,000, which is small change to the medical malpractice insurance company. However, the cost of the doctor's medical malpractice insurance premium goes up substantially, just as it does when you report an accident to your car insurer.

Why Does Medical Malpractice Insurance Cost So Much?

We are currently in the middle of a long-term healthcare cycle-the higher the cost of medical malpractice insurance, the higher the price of healthcare. The more a patient pays for healthcare, the more they feel the need to sue for outrageous judgments. Sometimes the awards are so high that there is no possible way that anyone will ever receive full payment; however, juries feel the need to set exorbitant awards to "teach" the providers a lesson. In some cases, judges have overturned or otherwise amended the awards. The only result of these awards is forcing a doctor (possibly) out of business-if he (or his medical malpractice insurance company) is expected to pay a multi-million dollar settlement.

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Medical Billing Careers

Medical billing careers are among the top contenders of the recent job explosion in the healthcare industry. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that it is one of the top twenty occupations in healthcare. Medical billing careers are pivotal to the success of the medical practice. It is often referred to as the doctor's key to getting paid for the services he rendered. Medical billing careers encompass a wide scope and a broad range of responsibilities as it includes front office tasks, among others, in its list of things to do. Nature of Work Success in medical billing careers is not as easy as it is often made out to be by those ads you see in the classified section of the local newspaper or the Internet. Not everyone who enters into one end up rich. Competition is fierce and in the end, the competent ones are the only ones who survive. To achieve some measure of success in medical billing careers, you will need to know all the basic concepts related to the jo...
Read more

Specialty Areas For Medical Technologists

Specialty areas for medical technologists are many since the field of healthcare is very vast. Some specialty areas for medical technologist are as follows. * Clinical microbiology: This is branch of microbiology, which includes identification of pathogens, susceptibility of some organisms to antimicrobial agents. Medical technologist with specialization in clinical microbiology can determine nature and extent of infections and public health problems. * Body Fluids: It includes study includes analysis of chemical, physical and microscopic parameter of body fluids like urine. * Clinical chemistry: medical technologist with this specialization conducts tests on blood and other body fluids to detect chemicals, hormones and drugs. Common test performed are Blood glucose to diagnose and monitor diabetes. * Hematology: Hematology is study of blood and blood forming organs. Medical technologists conduct different tests regarding blood cells and other components of blood. The most common test ...
Read more

Facing Confidentiality and Electronic Medical Records Concerns

With more and more hospitals employing the electronic medical record as their standard data collection, storage and retrieval system, there are those who are concerned with the risks in the confidentiality and electronic medical records system. The old way of doing things required a lot of paperwork. This meant more office space was allotted for record keeping. This usually meant a filing cabinet with a key as its main security defense against other people. The talk of confidentiality and electronic medical records keeping true to that sense is only a hype, or fluke. The concerns of confidentiality and electronic medical records falling into the wrong hands are grossly exaggerated. To put these concerns on confidentiality and electronic medical records intrusive capability, the software developers have added several security measures to insure that only those who need to know about your information get it and the information that the doctor is reading is really about you: * ...
Read more